MERGED-> Sorry speech + Australia apologizes...

[deep]

Originally posted by Irvine511
is there any discussion of reparations for Aboriginals?

yes,

they will each receive one white child

[Earnie Shavers]

4 Liberal Party MP's were a deliberate no-show. Another sat there in parliament reading a magazine, making a show of ignoring the speech.

4 of the 5 living past Prime Ministers were present. No prizes for guessing which one wasn't.

Irvine, no, no talk of reparations. In fact, todays apology was carefully made from the Parliament of Australia, not the Government of Australia.

[fly so high!]

Originally posted by Axver
Wow, Rudd was simply fantastic. An eloquent and fitting apology. That was the unequivocal and unconditional apology this country needs. We all live in a historical context that cannot be pushed under the carpet. For the first time since I moved to this country in 1997, I am genuinely proud of the government and believe we are moving into a better, fairer, more equal future. Rudd really did exceptionally not just in reaching out to the Aboriginal community, but in seeking to unite non-Indigenous Australia across partisan lines too. I feel that he was not speaking for any faction, but for a country unified across racial and ideological lines. I hope we can go on in that spirit.

Brendan Nelson's response for the Opposition was ... interesting, and for the most part not in a good way. It was startling to hear a Liberal leader say sorry and offer support for the apology - in other words, he started well. I could not have imagined that happening just three months ago. However, parts of his speech were frankly disgusting, trying to deflect the issue with irrelevancies, seeking to avoid responsibility, and sometimes appearing to offer a defence. I thought some of his comments were inappropriate, particularly his invokation of the Northern Territory intervention in a manner that was nothing short of political points-scoring. SBS reports that outside the parliament, the assembled crowd watching on a big screen booed him and turned their backs, and rightly so.

Axver, I could not have put it any better.......except that i want to add that i am very proud to be Australian today, proud to have voted for Labor. I am looking forward to seeing the policies that the Rudd Government will put forward to carry out the continuing reconciliation agenda.

[fly so high!]

Originally posted by Earnie Shavers
4 Liberal Party MP's were a deliberate no-show. Another sat there in parliament reading a magazine, making a show of ignoring the speech.

4 of the 5 living past Prime Ministers were present. No prizes for guessing which one wasn't.

Irvine, no, no talk of reparations. In fact, todays apology was carefully made from the Parliament of Australia, not the Government of Australia.

Howard must get off being a total bastard.

There has been discussions, not as much as you would think.....that is why the past government did not dare talk of such a thing as SORRY.....in Howard's eye and clearly still is in the heart of liberal leadership, to say the word SORRY means to accept full responsibilty, and accepting responsibilty means that "C word ".......COMPENSATION!

The indigenous people of Australia don't want that, this is not what they need.....it's not all about the MONEY!

It's about no longer feeling like a second rate citizen, it's about living longer, healthier and being able to pass on the beautiful rich culture of Aboriginal Australia not only through the indigenous but also the non-indigenous.

[Angela Harlem]

Originally posted by Irvine511
is there any discussion of reparations for Aboriginals?

The cynic in me automatically responds to this as a knee-jerk token gesture, which as far as a mere speech goes, is all it is; however, the importance of what this will do under a brand new government is what is going to be very telling. You've all heard Howard staunchly, publically, continually, devotedly refuse to enter into any apologist approach, and we've all watched as absolutely nothing unifying has ever been attempted. Rudd, as we all know, is not of the same political ilk as Howard. He's now referred to as Kevin 24/7 instead of Kevin '07 because of all the "vim and vigour" he has for actually doing what he's promised. Time will tell, though.

[coemgen]

Aren't Rudd and Peter Garrett in the same party?

[fly so high!]

Originally posted by coemgen
Aren't Rudd and Peter Garrett in the same party?

Yep. Are you a little confused about something?

[deep]

no

Rudd is vim

and Garrett is vigour



Garrett = Australian Labor Party

Rudd = Australian Labor Party

so yes, I guess

[coemgen]

Originally posted by fly so high!


Yep. Are you a little confused about something?

Nope. Just wanted to double check. I've been looking into Garrett's political life lately as a longtime fan of Midnight Oil. I thought I read a lot about Rudd. They seem like class guys.

[beli]

Originally posted by BonoManiac
^Thanks. I didn't look in there because I assumed "Sorry speech" meant something else, like: "That was a sorry speech that McCain gave the other night. "

This speech has been anticipated for about 10 years as the "sorry" speech. Perhaps you are from a different country, yeah? Fair enough.

[beli]

Im quite excited about all this. Even if Rudd never achieves another thing this Sorry speech and the Japanese whaling issue are huge achievements in my book.

PS Wasnt John Howard a complete fucknob for not attending the ceremony? He could have actually earned himself some respect today by attending but no.

[TranceEnding]

Originally posted by blueeyedgirl
You know, I'm trying not to be too starry eyed by this government. Rudd is a politician after all, and they tend to behave like politicians but I still feel he has something that Howard crucially lacked. Empathy, I don't know, but definitely he has it.

I was reading a story the other day about SA's Premier of the 70s Don Dunstan (who was Premier when I was a kid) and I remembered the glory days of when government acted FOR people - he championed the arts, women's rights, multiculturalism, he was the first state premier to decriminalise homosexuality. At the same time Whitlam made university education free to all, and not available just for the wealthy. Governments can act responsibly. The last 11 years of Howardism had lost that. Maybe we've got it back We can only hope.

I hope so too!

I wasn't able to watch the telly this morning as I was at work, so I was looking forward to seeing the 6pm news. I actually found myself choking back the tears, especially seeing the reaction of all the folks at Fed Square (in Melbourne) and up in Canberra. What a fantastic moment

It's so good to see a Prime Minister with kindness and compassion finally!!!

[major_panic]

Originally posted by TranceEnding

I wasn't able to watch the telly this morning as I was at work, so I was looking forward to seeing the 6pm news. I actually found myself choking back the tears, especially seeing the reaction of all the folks at Fed Square (in Melbourne) and up in Canberra. What a fantastic moment

It's so good to see a Prime Minister with kindness and compassion finally!!!

Absolutely agreed. I watched the last ten minutes of the speech at uni with my theology class and had to fight back tears. Even if it is just a small step, it's a step nonetheless.

What I find hilarious is the fact that the Opposition were, just two days ago, criticising the speech for not having the text of it released quickly enough, even though for the ridiculous amount of time they were in Government, they adamantly refused to even think about it. And all of a sudden, the speech can't come out quickly enough for them. Bloody hypocrites trying not to lose more votes.

I'm just glad that it's happened, and that I voted Labor. Now all they have to do is get somewhere with this apology, and I think this country will really start experiencing some change.

[Axver]

Originally posted by Earnie Shavers
4 Liberal Party MP's were a deliberate no-show. Another sat there in parliament reading a magazine, making a show of ignoring the speech.

4 of the 5 living past Prime Ministers were present. No prizes for guessing which one wasn't.

Wilson Tuckey and pathetically petty boy Johnnie can both go to hell.

Like blueeyedgirl, I'm trying not to get too starry-eyed about this new government, and the Internet filter idea that I firmly oppose has helped me there. But on the whole, Rudd & Co. have been absolutely exceptional. It's just starting to really settle on me just how much of a landmark historical occasion today is. I'm so proud of what has taken place. It is exactly the kind of reconciliation this country has desperately needed after everything Howard has done to ruin the place.

I don't know about you guys, but I've been cranking a fair bit of Midnight Oil today. It was very fitting to see Peter Garrett seated so close to Kevin Rudd as the apology was delivered. After all of his hard work to bring awareness to the plight of the Aborigines, he must feel exceptionally pleased today.

[beli]

Oh, it was fabulous that Peter Garrett was so physically close to Rudd! I bet he was pleased. Its been a long road for Pete (and the Aboriginal community)

[The Sad Punk]

Rudd seems a little too sincere for my taste. I mean, I like him, and I'm really happy with today, and I certainly hope this is the beginning of something wonderful. But there's just this whole attitude about him that seems really foreign, at least foreign as a politician. I'm not sure if it's inexperience or something genuinely wonderful.

[Irvine511]

Originally posted by deep


yes,

they will each receive one white child

you see?

this is why i'm still in love with you.

[beli]

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sto...20-662,00.html

TWO of the Howard government's most senior ministers -- including Alexander Downer -- are planning to quit politics and pursue lucrative careers in business.

Former agriculture minister Peter McGauran is also preparing to exit Parliament in a move that would trigger a series of by-elections.

Other big-name MPs, including Peter Costello, are being tipped to leave as part of a widespread purge of the former Howard ministry.

Please Mr Liberal Party please replace them with compassionate, humane peeps so we can continue this catch-up fix-up. Thank you.

I would like to add that Brendan Nelsons speech was reasonably good given the circumstances. I could smell Howard in Nelsons speech. Its gotta be difficult with Howards presence still around. Especially when Howard was the only former PM from the past 30 years who didnt attend the Sorry speech.

Nelson couldnt suport the Apology without offending Howard. Nelson couldnt disagree with the Apology without offending a fair chunk of Australia. Nelson couldnt ignore the situation either or he'd look like a knob. The only alternative was to speak about non controversial issues to do with the general plight of Indigenous Australia.

Nelson was caught between a rock and a hard place. Poor bugger.

[blueeyedgirl]

Interesting that about all the MPs quitting, there's been lots of noise in SA about Downer going. Wasn't it in the late 80s that the Liberal Party had the purge of "wets" from the party to make way for the hard nosed economic "dries" of which Howard was the pinnacle? Let's hope the time is right for a reversal!

[indra]

Originally posted by Earnie Shavers
Another sat there in parliament reading a magazine, making a show of ignoring the speech.

How incredibly tacky. It would have been better if he didn't show up at all. The sad thing is he probably knows that will sit well with his voter base.

The official apology though was eloquent and classy, and that's what people will remember the most.